Moana and the Legend of Lalahon
by MediocreWriter
Summary: One girl was a curious chief - blessed by the Ocean itself. She sails across the sea with her tribe to learn about the world and its secrets. The other girl was a little more cautious than her; and anointed by the Sun and Fire. She had never left her home. Then there was Maui: their Wing-man (both literally and figuratively), who loved love.


**This is just a little oneshot of an idea I had for the Moana franchise! But tbh it might be a multi-chapter thang if its well received xD I actually had a lot of fun writing it.**

**Enjoy!**

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A small smile crept its way onto the young chieftain's face as she idly stood at the head of her canoe. She could hear the faint laughter of her tribe's children on the neighbouring boats, followed by the sounds of their chastising mothers and fathers.

Moana chuckled softly at her peoples antics.

A satisfied sigh escaped her lips as the sun shone through the clouds and onto her skin - blanketing her in a comforting warmth. The mist of the sea softly pelted against her arms as they sailed onwards. The ocean's scent wafted into her nostrils, filling her lungs with the smell of fresh saltwater - a scent that she had come to _love_ over the past two years.

"Ca-Ca-CAWW!"

Moana shook her head good-naturedly at Maui's ridiculous call.

_Thud!_

He landed next to her, morphing back into his human form. Moana quirked a curious brow at him when he took a couple of moments to catch his breath. It seemed like he had something important to tell her about their next destination.

"Oh dear God I'm so tired..." He wheezed in between taking breaths. "I tried to get back here as soon as possible because I wanted to tell you that the next island is-!"

"It's _HUGE!_"

Moana's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets when she saw the sheer _size_ of the island on the horizon. It almost _ran_ the length of the horizon itself! It looked like an endless sea of green. She couldn't even imagine how big it'd be once they _actually_ got up close. Shortly after, the young chief heard the excited exclamations from the people of her tribe. They all stared at it in wonderment.

She turned to the demigod with an expectant smile.

"Were you able to circle around it?"

Maui let out a hearty laugh at that. "Are ya kidding me, kid? Did you _see_ how big that island is from here? There's no way I could've circled around it in a couple of minutes- heck, I probably couldn't fly around it in an hour..." His voice trailed off as they sailed towards the landmass. "We gotta get closer."

Moana nodded, and then looked back at the horizon - the smile never leaving her face.

_I wonder what the people are like... I mean, there's _gotta_ be people there. It's way too big for there to _not_ be people living on it._

She had to resist the urge to bounce on her spot in anticipation.

For the past year or so, Moana and her people have been voyaging around the world - discovering new islands, and learning about different cultures. Sometimes, a couple of people from their tribe would decide to stay at a new island and plant their roots. Other times, Moana would welcome newcomers who wanted to sail along with them. Thankfully, for the most part, their caretakers have been friendly and accepted her people with open arms.

The _Motunui_ tribe had officially become a rag-tag group of Nomads.

And Moana loved it.

Her parents loved it too.

She directed her gaze back to the vast sea at the thought of her loved ones.

She missed them. A lot.

Many months ago, her mother and father made the choice of staying at one of the recent islands that they've voyaged to. They deemed her ready to lead their people on her own, and appointed her as the new Chieftain. It was a bittersweet affair, but she was glad it happened. It meant that she grew, that it was her turn to make something of herself - of her tribe.

She just hoped she would be a good leader.

"Looks like we've got company..."

Moana snapped out of her thoughts and looked towards the island once more. There were a number of people sailing towards them with canoes of their own. However, that wasn't what initially caught her eye.

She let out a gasp.

"_Whoa.__" _

Now that they were closer, the young chief could see that a volcano stood tall near the shoreline. Her brows furrowed in both surprise and concern when she spotted the village situated alarmingly _close_ to it. And judging by the smoke clouds that came from its crater, Moana assumed it was still active.

_Why would they build a village so close to a volcano?_

"State who you are, and what your business is here."

Her attention shifted to the voice that spoke to her. She didn't even realize how _close_ they got to the other tribe. Moana could've easily boarded their boat if she wanted to (and vice versa).

Standing across from her was an older woman about the same age as her own mother, if she were to guess. The woman had an angled face, and sharp almond-shaped eyes. On top of her head sat a colourful beaded headdress that fell down along the sides of her head - revealing her face like a curtain.

Moana then took note of their skin.

It was like her own peoples, but a few shades darker - like the sun had blessed them with a little more of its love. Their limbs were covered in tribal tattoos, similar to their own too. There were certain similarities that Moana could see these people had with her own... and it intrigued her. Even their apparel was made out of the same _tapa _cloth they wore too, with the exception of the fact that their clothes were primarily red.

However, her curiosity had swiftly ceased when she realized they were _holding_ things.

They were _armed_. They held spears and fishing hooks in their hands, but appeared to be on the defensive. Despite that fact, Moana could tell these people were ready to strike if need be. She stayed calm. It wouldn't be the first time a group of islanders approached them in such a way. At this point, a greeting like this one was to be expected.

Moana took in a deep breath, and slowly let it out. She then stared the other woman squarely in the eye.

"My name is Moana of Motunui and-"

"Motunui?" The woman interrupted. "I've never heard of it."

Moana resisted the urge to groan. She was getting major flashbacks of when she tried to introduce herself to a certain demigod. He interrupted her back then too.

"That's because we come from a long ways _away._" Maui interjected, an amused smirk gracing his lips.

The lady on the other boat simply quirked a brow at him.

Moana chuckled softly. It was always interesting to see how people reacted to the way her tribe lived.

"We're a Nomad tribe that's come from across the sea. We don't usually stay for too long on one island, so you don't have to worry about us taking up your resources." The young chief explained as she directed a reassuring grin towards the other tribe woman. "We're pretty resourceful ourselves. If you let us have a patch of land to set up camp, we'd be able to live off it."

"That won't be necessary."

Moana frowned when those words didn't come out of the tribe lady's mouth.

"It wouldn't be the first time a neighbouring tribe stayed in our village." The same voice said. It's owner suddenly revealed themselves from behind the tribe lady. "Although, it'd be the first time we accepted a tribe that came from the sea."

Moana's brows rose in surprise when she saw it was a girl who spoke. She didn't seem much older than Moana herself. She had long, black hair that flowed down to her hips. Her hair might've actually been longer, considering she wore it in a pony-tail.

Her face wasn't as angular as the other woman's - there was a softer arch around her jaw-line. However, her eyes were just as sharp, if not sharper; and her skin was just as dark. Moana noticed that the girl didn't wear a beaded headdress. Instead, she wore a type of beaded bracelet that covered both of her forearms. The same type of bracelet covered her ankles too. She then saw the tattoo that ran the length of her right leg. From where Moana stood, the tattoo kind of looked like _flames. _

Realizing that she had been silent for a while, Moana directed her attention back to the girls face.

Their gazes seemed to connect at the same time.

Apparently, the girl was sizing her up too.

The other girl upheld a stoic demeanour. Her jaw had set, and her body was tensed up. Despite her overall body language, the amused glint that shone in her eyes betrayed how she felt in that moment.

"We have plenty of huts and shacks that your people can use in our village." The girl stated as she gestured towards the island behind her. "And you can stay for as long as you need."

Moana smiled towards her in gratitude. "Thank you-"

Before she could properly thank the other girl, the water around them began to vibrate. Moana and her people stared back to the island in growing concern. The dark clouds that escaped the volcano became continuous, and spurts of _lava_ started to spew out of it. Her eyes widened in realization.

_The volcano... it's erupting!_

Moana and Maui wasted no time in jumping onto the other tribe's boat. The demigod got his fish-hook ready so he could transform into his hawk form, and the young chieftess prepared to call onto the ocean to help them arrive on the island's shoreline. But when she looked around, she saw that the people of the island's tribe weren't concerned about the volcano. They were completely calm.

"Th-The volcano!" Moana exclaimed in an attempt to get the other tribe's attention. "I-It's gonna blow! We _need _to-!"

"Relax." The woman with the beaded headdress told her - placing a hand on her shoulder.

"But the _village_-!"

"Is going to be fine."

Moana could only stare back at the woman in utter disbelief.

Suddenly, their boat violently swayed backwards, causing Moana to nearly fall onto her face. She immediately regained balance and gaped incredulously at the girl who just _leaped_ off of it.

Her jaw almost dropped from what happened next.

Maui, on the other hand, had his jaw hanging wide open and literally dropped his fish-hook in shock.

Why? Well, because...

There was _fire_ being expelled from the girl's arms and legs - propelling her midair, towards the island.

"There's fire coming out of her hands and feet." Maui droned.

"I can see that."

"There is _fire_ coming out of her _hands_ and _feet!_" He repeated loudly as the sheer _ridiculousness _of this discovery took over.

"Mhmm...!"

The abrupt laughter of some of the island's tribe members snapped her out of her shock. She then directed her gaze back to the tribe lady, who was wiping an imaginary tear from her eye.

"Oh that _never_ gets old!"

The young chieftess simply joined them in laughter - albeit awkwardly, like she found it kind of funny but was truthfully still in shock. She did _not_ know how else to react. Maui, alternatively, plopped himself down onto the canoe and catatonically watched the fire girl fly through the air. Moana did the same thing... minus the jaw drop. If anything, she watched the girl with an excited smile.

The girl landed roughly onto the beach on her feet. She stood up slowly and stared up at the erupting volcano. Out of nowhere, the girl aimed a punch into the air - with a brilliant flame escaping her fist. She then swiftly ducked, and swiped her leg against the sand as the fire expelled from her feet. The girl continued to complete these random motions for some time. At a certain point, Moana could've sworn that she was _dancing._

It was the way she moved. Her movements were swift, fluid; but firm and with rhythm. However, what enchanted the young chief was the fact that the girl didn't seem to be dancing _alone._

The volcano- it somehow _followed_ her movements.

Whenever she struck the air in a fierce manner, the volcano's smoke would pulsate accordingly - shooting out fire and lava out of its top. But when her strikes were gentle, the giant mountain would become calm. Moana couldn't believe it!

Suddenly, the girl began to move faster and ultimately leaped into the air. The volcano rumbled threateningly as she rose upwards. But when her feet gracefully landed on the ground once more, the girl bowed deeply before the volcano. The rumbling stopped, as did the smoke.

Moana then jumped in surprise when a tribe member let out a holler from one of the canoes. Shortly after, other members began clapping and praising the young girl for protecting their village. She clapped along with them. It was really quite the feat to behold. On the island, more people emerged from the village and went to thank the fire girl in person.

"Who _is_ she?" Moana wondered out loud.

"That girl goes by many names," An elderly voice chimed in. Moana searched the other canoes to see who the voice belonged to. She found an elderly man staring back at her with mischievous eyes. "Chieftain of _Lumad_, The Girl blessed by the Sun, our Keeper..."

"Does... she have an actual name?"

The man smiled. "The locals call her _Lalahon_."

_Lalahon..._

But what does he mean by they _call her_ Lalahon. Was that not her name?

"If you want to learn more about _Lalahon_... there's a pathway at the base of the volcano that leads to a cliffside where she likes to hang about." The woman with the beaded headdress mentioned offhandedly.

"Noted." Moana replied with a friendly grin. "Thanks... uh...?"

"Malaya."

The young chieftess made sure to remember the woman's name.

Malaya snorted. "Now go and chase that hot-headed child down. It'd do that brat good to make some friends her own age. Our people will make sure that your tribe gets settled in nicely."

Moana had already jumped off the boat, and used the ocean's waves at her feet to propel herself towards the island.

'Did she just control the Ocean with her feet?!'

She heard Maui guffaw from the canoe. 'Yes and no.'

Moana laughed.

* * *

The Motunui chieftess gazed at _Lalahon_ from behind.

She followed Malaya's instructions, and found herself at a cliffside that overlooked the entirety of the village; which she learned was named _Lumad._ The sun started to set on the horizon, and the stars slowly filled the night's sky. Moana would've been at the cliffside sooner, but she wanted to help her people get settled into the new village first. She also wanted to get a general _feeling_ for their new home.

So far she liked it.

The people of _Lumad_ lived similarly to how her tribe lived too.

She also learned that the girl- _Lalahon - _was something akin to _Lumad's_ chief. But she was more commonly referred to as their 'protector.' This resulted in her curiosity about the girl to grow even more. There were so many _questions_ Moana had for her. However, there was _one_ question that she had that's been gnawing at the young chieftess for quite some time now.

"So why do they call you _Lalahon?_" Moana asked the girl abruptly. "I know that's not your real name because of the way the villagers _say_ it. The name - it's like a _title, _isn't it?"

For a while, the girl named _Lalahon_ didn't move. She didn't even seem surprised that Moana was there with her. Moana then silently wondered if she heard her. She frowned when _Lalahon_ continued to stay silent. It was either she didn't hear her or she was being flat out ignored. The thought of it being the latter somewhat annoyed her.

Moana was about to repeat herself, but then the other tribe leader chuckled.

"You're naturally a curious girl, aren't you?"

Moana took the place next to _Lalahon_ at the cliffside. "I take pride in that fundamental fact about myself, thank you very much."

This earned an amused smile from the normally stoic girl.

Something seemed to flutter in Moana's chest at the sight.

_What a kind smile..._

"_Lalahon_ is the name of the goddess whose powers have been given to me," The other girl finally answered. "The people of my tribe refer to me as _Lalahon_ because of that - because of my powers... or should I say her powers." She snorted. "Her 'fire power' was the only thing I inherited from her, and I possess _none_ of her immortality whatsoever."

Moana quirked a brow at that last part. "So that means you're-"

"One hundred percent human." The other chieftain finished. "But to answer your actual question: My name, at birth, is Althea."

"Althea..."

"Yup." Althea affirmed, cheekily popping the 'p' at the end. "That's my name. Don't wear it out."

Moana chuckled at her random playful behaviour, and watched as she stood up from the cliffside. The other girl flashed her yet another smile... and the flutter in her chest returned with a vengeance. It felt like a hummingbird was just flapping away where her freaking sternum should've been.

All Moana could do was scratch the back of her neck and sheepishly grin back at the girl.

"I'm going to call it a day." Althea stated as she offered her a hand. Moana took it without hesitation. She then yelped in surprise when Althea overestimated how much force she needed to lift her up. She basically ended up falling into the other girl's arms.

They stood toe-to-toe from one another. Moana was glad that the sun had set, otherwise Althea would've clearly seen the utterly embarrassed expression on her face.

"Y-You...You should head back to your people before it gets too dark." Althea suggested, her voice barely above a whisper. "It can be confusing in the forest during the night."

The young girl simply looked over her shoulder and stared into the abyss that was _Lumad's_ forest. She didn't even notice how dark it got. A chill ran down her spine at the thought of venturing in the strange forest on her own. Sure, she could wayfind across the ocean using a canoe with no problem. To Moana, that was a lot more easier than navigating through a dark forest. Who _knows _what was in there. At least when she was wayfinding, she could see where she was going.

She redirected her gaze towards Althea with a pleaful smile.

Althea simply chuckled once more. "Would you like me to walk you back, Moana?"

"That won't be necessary!"

_What?!_

Maui's massive hawk form swooped right in front of Moana and Althea, nearly knocking them off their feet. He then morphed back into his human form _right between_ them, which resulted in him _actually_ knocking Moana off her feet. The _Lumad_ chieftain's reflexes were fast enough to avoid getting body-checked by the demigod. Moana was not so lucky.

She grunted as her butt hit the ground. "Ow! Mau-WHOA!?"

Moana couldn't even finish her sentence before Maui lugged her over his shoulder like a sack of flour. "You don't need to worry about this one, Princess Fire-hands."

"Princess Fire-hands?" Althea asked, quirking a mildly confused brow at the man.

Maui frowned thoughtfully. "Because you're a princess? With Fire Hands?"

"I'm not a princess."

"So what should I call you then?"

"Calling her by her _name_ would be ideal." Moana jumped in, smacking Maui's back in annoyance. She tried to free herself from his grasp but to no avail. Although she didn't know what she expected... she was roughly the size of _one_ of his arms.

Maui rolled his eyes. "And that name would be...?"

"_Chieftain_ Fire-hands." Althea answered cheekily.

Moana giggled.

Maui, on the other hand, didn't find her sass to be as charming as Moana did. In response, he stared back at the young chieftain flatly. However, it seemed like he wasn't going to press her on it, seeing as he already started to walk away with Moana _still_ lugged over his back.

Maui raspberried, "Alright, _Chieftain_ Fire-Hands... like I've said: you don't need to worry about _this brat._ I'll make sure she gets home to her people safely."

Althea simply hummed, and then directed a mildly amused smirk towards Moana.

"Make sure of it." The other girl grinned as she playfully winked. For some odd reason, Moana held her breath. "Because I'd like to give her a tour of the village tomorrow."

"Y-You would?"

"If you're interested."

"Yeah!" Moana answered, a little too quickly. She felt Maui snicker at her enthusiastic response but ignored him. She then cleared her throat and shyly smiled at the other Chieftain. "I'd like that."

"Great!" Maui suddenly exclaimed, causing both her and Althea to yelp. "Now that you've got your little date set... we're gonna go now."

"W-Wha? Wait-!"

The demigod began walking away into the thick of the forest before Moana could get another word in. Although Althea was out of her view, she at least figured that the other girl was still in earshot.

"Goodnight, Alth-er, Chieftain Fire-Hands!"

Maui snorted.

"Goodnight, Moana." Althea called back. For a moment, she thought their interaction was going to end there. But then the other girl piped up once more. "You too, Bird-Man."

This time, it was Moana who snorted.

"My name is Maui..." The demigod grumbled under his breath.

She could've sworn she heard Althea laugh.

Moana smiled to herself as she propped her head up on her hand against Maui's back. She thought back on this whirlwind of a day. At first, she found Althea kind of intimidating. What with the girl's overall stoic demeanour. But now that she somewhat had a conversation with the other chieftain, Moana came to realize that...

_She's just a girl._

She then inwardly laughed at her understated observation about Althea.

_A girl with super cool fire-controlling powers._

Oh she _definitely _had questions for her.

For some time, she simply swayed from side-to-side, deep in thought, while Maui continued to carry her. She frowned. _Why_ was she still being lugged around on his back?

"Let me down, _Bird Man_."

"Y'know I was going to do that, but then you decided to be mean."

Moana exhaled sharply. "Maui..."

"_Alright, _Alright!" Maui chuckled. "I'm just kidding around."

He gently placed her back onto her feet. Moana uttered a small 'thanks' towards the demigod, and they both wordlessly navigated through the dark forest.

Their stroll was relatively quiet, with the occasional birdcall here and there. Every once in a while, they'd be welcomed with a breeze that would give them some reprieve from the forest's humidity. The cool wind brushed against the skin of her arms, and danced throughout her hair. She could've sworn she heard the forest whisper its secrets into her ears, but she couldn't make sense of what it was trying to tell her. Flickers of lights flew around them. When Moana looked closely, she could see that the little lights were some type of insect. One she had never seen before.

Slowly, but surely, the forest became _alive._

And she was _loving _every second of it.

"Caaan you feeel the love tonight~!"

She freaking jinxed it.

"Maui be quiet!" Moana huffed, rolling her eyes at the half-god. She then blew her hair away from her face as she fell in step with him, "...We don't have the rights to that song."

"Aren't we from the same studio? I don't see the problem..."

"That's not the _point_."

"Why do you gotta sweat all the details?" Maui waved a dismissive hand at her. "Besides, our franchise doesn't have any 'romantic-specific' songs."

"Romantic-specific songs?"

"You're really going to stand there and act like you didn't have a connection with _Chieftain Fire-Hands?_"

Moana simply shook her head at the demigod's antics and decided not to humour him.

She then gave him a sidelong glance, and remembered what she sent him to do. "So how big is the island?"

"Too big. Like _way _too big." Maui answered her promptly. "I flew along the shoreline for a couple of hours but when I realized I wasn't getting anywhere, I flew back." He let out a disbelieving scoff. "I think I saw _more islands_ inland... attached to this one!"

"W-What?! Are you sure?"

"I... didn't get a good look, but I'm _positive_ that's what I saw." He lifted his arms up and gestured to the forest around them. "Moana, this _place_\- it's huge! I-It's-!"

"_Amazing..._" Moana whispered.

Her heartbeat quickened and she could feel the adrenaline pump through her veins. She gazed at the _Lumad _forest with new eyes. The excitement of learning about this place began to bubble over, and she could hardly contain herself.

"Ooooh that face!" Maui pointed out as he rubbed his hands together in anticipation. "You've got your adventure face on! What's the plan, kid?"

"Hmm... there's no plan yet."

"But...?"

"But whatever we're in for..." She paused, and looked up to the star-lit sky. She thought of this impossibly large, strange island that her people boarded - of its mystery and its beauty; of the fantastical elements that seemed to surround it.

A certain young chieftess flashed across her mind.

She smiled widely.

"It's going to be _legendary_."

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**If you didn't notice already, the 'impossibly large island' is supposed to be the Philippines :P I had this idea bouncing around in my head for a while now and just thought "meh, why the hell not?"**

**As a result this little thang happened.**

**Hope y'all had fun reading it!**

**Until Next Time,**

**MediocreWriter.**


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